Mana's Necklace
by Aqua girl 007
Summary: While everyone else is at the Festival of Wagg, giving offerings to their ancestors, Mana decides to stay behind, since she has no ancestors to mourn. Mana contemplates about who her parents are before she finds an old trinket from long ago.


Hey guys, and welcome to my next one shot.

I got this idea when I looked at a picture made by **starfireelf15** on DeviantArt or **Homura Bakura** as she is known on this site. (BTW, you guys should check her fanfiction account and her DA account out, her work is really good. I can give you a link to her DA page through a PM if anyone wants it, too). In the picture, Atem bought it for Mana as a gift for her birthday. While I love her story as well, I wanted to write my own take on where Mana got that necklace. And this little tale popped in my mind.

Thanks vaselover for helping me out with the one paragraph. Thanks Raving in the Rain for helping me out with some of the info on ancient Egypt.

As a side note, Mana and Atem are around 12 years old here. Or a few years before Atem becomes Pharaoh.

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><p><strong>Warning: mentions of the ancient Egyptian belief system, vaseshipping hints and tons of my own head cannons<strong>

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><p><strong><strong>Disclaimer: Do I own Yugioh? No. That's why it's fanfiction. I'm purely a <em>fan <em>as in _fan_fiction. Kazuki Takahashi is the owner and creator of Yugioh.****

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><p>Leaning against the banister on the balcony in my bedchamber, I stared at the starry sky.<p>

Besides some guards and servants, I am probably one of the only people here instead of being at the festival. Atem, Mahad, and everyone else is at the Festival of Wagg **(1)** tonight, giving offerings to their dead loved ones in temples and in the tombs. I am not there since I don't have anyone to mourn or any ancestors that I know of. In fact, I do not know who my biological family members are.

I was told that I was taken to the palace when I was very little due to people to some people thinking I was cursed and in order to teach me magic. That was so long ago that I barely remember any of it. In fact, it's been so long ago I do not even remember what my parents even look like.

The closet thing I have to a parent of any kind was the old master of the Millennium Necklace. Mahad, the current possessor of the Millennium Ring, I see as a role model and an older brother. They are both still alive. I love them very much and they are like family to me, but I still sometimes wonder what my parents are like.

Who was my mother? What was she like? Did she pass away? Did she give me up by choice? Was she a good person or a bad person? Who was my father? Was he a good or bad person? What was he like? Are they still out there? Or are they both dead? I never found an answer for any of this.

Sometimes I even wonder if there is more to the story or even if everything I was told is a flat out lie. Every time I bring up the topic to some of the grown-ups I know, they just brush it off and never tell me anything. It really makes me wonder even more if they are withholding information from me and why they do not want me to know about it. Am I just imagining things and just hoping to know more about my family? Or are they really hiding something from me?

However, I overheard gossip from some of the other people in the palace that someone in the palace might be my real parent. But I try not to think about that, since I know it could be a lie, too. After all, gossip is usually a lie spun out of control, _right?_

What makes it even more confusing is that most people are taught magic in the royal temples, not the palace. I know hardly anyone else who lives in the palace to learn magic like me. So wouldn't it make more sense for me to train in a temple instead of the royal palace? Is there more of a reason to me being here?

I asked Atem if he knew what happened to my family a few time before, and even he is unsure about this too; and he's the prince of Kemet for crying out loud! If he doesn't know, then no one does.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a strange necklace on my chest. Walking into my bedchamber, I grasped it in my hand and looked at the necklace more carefully . It was a gold shen necklace** (2)** with a red centre piece in the middle. I think I recognise this. It's the necklace I had when I was very little. I think I had this when I first came to the palace. Did my parents give this to me? ...They must have. Who else would give me a protection amulet before I came to the palace...?

"Mana?" I heard Atem say, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin.

Turning my head around, I saw Atem, who had some flowers in his hair **(3),** standing next to me.

My eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance. "Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," Atem apologised. "I didn't mean to scare you like that."

Sighing, I crossed my arms. "It is all right."

Wait…

"What are you doing here?" I asked casually. "I thought you would be at the festival or offering wishes to your ancestors."

"I came back here to get my amulet. I think I left it here before."

"Oh. It is on my chest. I was going to give it to you before, but I must have forgot about it."

He nodded. "Oh, okay. That's fine."

Atem walked over to the chest, grabbing his amulet. Atem walked back before he peered down at the necklace and asked, "What are you holding, anyway?"

"A necklace," I teased.

Atem rolled his eyes, cracking a smile. "I know that much. But why are you holding that?"

"It's an amulet I just found. My parents must've gave it to me when I was born or something."

"It looks pretty."

My face brightened up. "You really think so?"

"Yeah. I like the colour of the jewel in the centre," he said, pointing at the red centre piece of the necklace.

I glanced down at the necklace once more. The more I think about it, it does match his eyes.

"Can you help me put it on?"

"Yeah, sure."

Smiling, Atem draped it around my neck before he clasped it. For some reason, I felt little a hundred little butterflies fluttered in my tummy and felt my cheeks heat up when Atem did that. We have been friends since we were little, however I keep feeling butterfly in my tummy when I am around him lately. We play together a lot more now and he always seem to find the time to do so. It's always fun when I am with Atem. While he can be very regal around grown-ups like Shimon or his father, he seem to act more carefree, wild, and goofy when he's around me. He also seem to be willing to help me out and is very kind, too.

Smiling, I replied, "Thank you."

I touched my necklace. I am surprised this necklace fits, especially since this was given to me a very long time ago. But I want to wear it in my parents memory. While I might not know who my parents are, I still want to wear this in their memory. Who knows, I might find them someday. They gotta be out there somewhere! I just know it!

I watched as his eyes lit up with mischief. "Hey Mana, you want to pull a prank on Mahad before we head back to the festival?"

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><p>1) The Festival of Wagg was a particular time to show respect and devotion to Osiris, because of the "rebirth" or Orion's Belt in the night sky around August. However, this was a time when people mourned the loss of loved ones, offering milk, bread, water, and lastly wine to be had at the graves of there ancestors. They also usually go to temple, and then feast with the dead either in graveyards or, like pharaohs, in giant tombs.<p>

2) It's a circle with a horizontal line along its bottom edge. While I know it did not look exactly like this in the anime, I decided to take some liberties with it and still kept most of its overall design. It also symbolised both enterity and protection. Shenu, meanwhile, is a cartouche.

3) The reason why Atem has flowers in his hair is because during the featival of Wagg, people wore flowers in their hair so it resembled a crown. Flowers are usually hung on houses, the door posts specifically, to welcome the spirits of those who have passed to join them in song and rest in a bed for a night.


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